NEWCASTLE Falcons pumped fresh life into their season with a one-sided LV= Cup triumph over a youthful Cardiff Blues.

The Anglo-Welsh tournament remains the ugly duckling of the rugby landscape – unloved and often abandoned by the high and mighty – but for Newcastle it once again provided a timely catalyst.

A no-win situation saw them expected to emerge comfortable victors against a Cardiff side shorn of seven World Cup stars, and with 14 changes from their regular starting XV.

Nonetheless, you can only beat what is in front of you, and the Falcons warmed to their task inside the opening two minutes.

Flexing their attacking muscles by spurning a kickable three points in favour of a five-metre line-out, their adventure was rewarded when flanker Mark Wilson was driven over the try-line from a rolling maul.

Jimmy Gopperth converted from the touch-line, and the fly-half was forming an offensive axis with returning centre Jeremy Manning as the Kiwi pair gave the ball width at every opportunity.

The second try was not long in coming as full-back Greg Goosen crossed for the first of his hat-trick.

The South African cruised into the right corner after line-breaks from Gopperth and Darren Fearn created an overlap.

The former Racing Metro man grabbed a second midway through the half as Gopperth’s long looping pass to Rikki Sheriffe was fed back inside, ensuring a 19-0 interval lead.

Sheriffe was a willing worker in his first start of the season, and the ex-rugby league man took full advantage of a rare 80-minute outing as he hit the line, recycled well and made his tackles.

Returning prop Euan Murray helped shore up the scrum, and there were just 11 minutes of the second half gone when Goosen crossed for his personal hat-trick and the Falcons’ four-try bonus point.

A blindside three-on-two put the full-back in at the right corner from a five-metre scrum, and at 26-0 up the game was gone.

Cardiff, to their credit, got themselves on the board with a Rhys Patchell penalty, but Newcastle’s forward supremacy was always the telling factor as Kiwi hooker Michael Mayhew marked his first start for the club with a pick-and-go try between the posts.

A gallant Blues side lacked no motivation for the remainder as they peppered the Newcastle line, but a stern defensive work-out just added to the joy for the Falcons as the final whistle arrived with a 30-point gap between the two sides. It was far from the perfect performance, as head coach Alan Tait admitted afterwards.

The line-out – non-existent at Saracens a week ago – was once again creaky at times.

Forward domination was not converted into points as much as it should have been, but the pros far outweighed the cons.